Dakota Access Company Can Keep Some Pipeline Secrets

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A federal judge is allowing the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline to keep secret some but not all pipeline information the company believes could be useful to vandals and terrorists.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg says information such as spill risks at points along the pipeline should be shielded from public view but certain details relating to how a spill might be handled shouldn’t be.

American Indian tribes who oppose the pipeline had argued that the spill risk data could bolster their case for more environmental study.

Pipeline company spokeswoman Vicki Granado declined comment on the ruling. She cited the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes’ ongoing federal lawsuit over the $3.8 billion pipeline to move North Dakota oil to a distribution point 1,200 miles away in Illinois.